Method of finishing



Dec. 27, 1938. J. vlssER METHODYOBFINISHING 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 25, 1936 INVENTOR; I

NEY;

ATTOR Dec. 27, 1938. J. VISSER METHOD OF FINISHING Filed Dec. 23, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. 1 1 BY Gym. 6- 7;

A TTOR. JEYS.

Patented Dec. 27, 1938 PATENT OFFICE METHOD OF FINISHING .lohn Visser, Grand Rapids, Mich., assignor to F. L. Jacobs 00., Detroit, Mich., a corporation of Michigan Application December 23, 1936, Serial No. 117,294

Claims.

This invention relates to the art of applying decorative finishes by the roller graining method and resides specifically in an improvement therein by which a decorative finish may be applied 5 in discontinuous areas to non-co-planar surfaces. l

An object of this invention is to provide a simple and economical method of applying a grain finish to metal plates or articles having raised, bright metal or plane-finished raised portions forming designs without the necessity of resorting to the more expensive lithographing method heretofore employed for such purposes.

The method of this invention resides in a novel sequence of steps in which a. formed metal object having raised portions is first placed behind a mask which covers the raised portions and is then sprayed witha ground or priming protective coating. This coating is baked or otherwise dried, following which the object is again placed behind a mask which covers the raised portions and a soft roller, inked with a decorative pattern, is rolled over its face; the object is then removed from the mask and again baked or otherwise dried. To insure a good lustre, the object may then be sprayed with clear lacquer, baked or otherwise dried, and finally buffed and polished.

The method of this invention produces, for

example, a metal article of distinctive and attractive appearance having bright, buffed portions raised above the general level of its main surface, with the background portions of the main surfaces tinted and grained to 'resemble,

for example, natural wood.

The method of thisinvention is best described by reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein- Fig. 1 is a view of the face of a suitable stamped 40 sheetmetal blank in a plated, but otherwise untreated, condition;

Fig. 2 is a section of the blank shown in Fig. 1, taken at the line 22;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of a suitable mask employed in the method of this invention with portions broken away;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view illustrating a blank covered by a mask undergoing spraying to apply .the ground coat;

covered by a mask undergoing graining with a soft roller;

Fig. 6 is a partial, sectional view taken at the plane 6-6 of Fig. 5; and

Fig. 7 is a face view of a finished panel.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view illustrating a blank The method of this invention may be practiced on a wide variety of forms of metal objects having raised portions forming attractive designs. The method of this invention, however, will be described as applied to one representative object, such as is shown in Fig. 1. The object shown in Fig. l is a pressed metal blank, roughly rectangular in shape and slightly crowned. The blank is designated by the numeral l. Raised above the general surface of the blank I are the raised portions 2 forming designs thereon, pressed from the body material of the blank as more clearly shown in Fig. 2. The blank having been thus formed, the faces of the beading 2 are carefully buffed, following which the blank is thoroughly cleaned and a coating of chromium applied by electro-deposition. The blank as thus prepared has a dull or mate surfaced background and bright, mirrorlike sur faces on the raised portions and is now ready .for the various coating operations which follow.

The next step in the procedure is to apply a priming or ground coat. For this purpose a mask is prepared, as shown in Fig. 3. The mask is composed of a positioning plate 4, which is a rectangular member with an upwardly protruding interior rim 5 upon which the blank I may rest, as shown in section in Fig. 6. Hingedly attached to the plate 4 is the mask frame 6, having an aperture approximating the exterior dimensions of the blank I. Secured to the frame 6 and extending across the aperture thereof are masking strips 1. The masking strips- 1 are formed with great precision to cover the raised portions 2 of a blank I as accurately as possible. Any suitable means may be employed for form- 'ing the masking strips 1, although they may be formed with great advantage by electro-deposition of copper, nickel, or other suitable metal upon a properly blanked out facsimile of the article to be treated. The plating is .built up to a suitable depth and then stripped from the object, producing extremely thin and precisely fitting masking strips. A portion of the mask frame 6 may be formed integrally with the mask strips 1 and at the same time and subsequently stiffened with appropriate backing material, such as type metal to lend rigidity to the frame. By reason of the hinged connection between the frame. 6 and the positioning plates 4, the entire mask assembly may be opened in book fashion and a suitable blank mounted upon the posi-- tioning plate 4 and then the entire assembly closed, as shown in Fig 4. The ground coat is ticle is baked or otherwise dried.

then applied, as illustrated in Fig. 4, by any suitable spraying apparatus, or by any other means, such, for example, as a stencil brush. Theobject is then removed from the mask and baked or otherwise dried.

The object treated as described just above will now appear as having bright, lustrous, polished design portions raised above and running across the general level of the surface, the general level of the surface, however, being now covered by the ground coat. The object is now once more placed in a, masking frame and a soft rubber, or other suitable material, roller is inked with a decorative design, for example, by passing it lightly over an inked copper plate in the surface of which the decorative design is etched. The soft roller carrying the decorative design is then passed over the object, as shown in Fig. 5. Thedesign carried by the roller is thus transferredto the object. In passing the roller, care should be taken to apply a firm pressure so that the substance of the roller is distorted to bring the roller face in contact. with all of the exposed faces of the object. The manner in which the roller is distorted is illustrated in Fig. 6, in which is shown the object] in section with the masking strip I covering the raised portion 2. During the graining step it is advisable to employ masking strips I which are slightly narrower than those employed during the application of the ground coat. When this is done the complete covering of the ground coat with the decorative design is assured.

It will be noted from the above description that the graining step does not amount to a simple stenciling of a decorative design by means of a graining roller, but rather it involves the application of a decorative design to a ground surface the level of which lies appreciably below that of the beading.

Upon completion of the graining step the ar- If the decorated surfaces then lack the lustre desired, the entire article may be sprayed or otherwise treated with a clear lacquer and dried, following which step the entire face of the article can be polished and buffed. During this latter step the clear lacquer thus applied may cover not only the background portions but also the raised portions 2, without detracting from the appearance. The finished article will have an appearance as illustrated in Fig. '7, wherein the lustrous, raised metallic design portions 2 run across the surface carrying a decorative coating.

That which I claim as my invention is:

1. The method of producing a decorative metallic panel having spaced, bright mirror like raised surfaces with grained or the like decorative surfaces therebetween, comprising forming designs in the surface of a sheet metal panel comprising spaced portions raised above the general surface of said panel, polishing the outer surfaces of said raised spaced design portions of said panel, plating said panel on its polished side with chromium whereby there is formed thereon a bright mirror like finish on the raised polished design portions and a dull mat-like finish on the surfaces therebetween, applying to said panel a mask frame having masking members thereacross in register with said raised spaced mirror like design portions and openings between said masking members in register with said dull matlike surfaces, applying a pigment as a base color to said dull mat-like surfaces but not to said raised polished surfaces, removing said mask tective coating of clear transparent lacquer over both said bright and last said decorative surfaces of said panel and polishing and bufiing said lacquered coating, whereby the surfaces of the raised portions will have a bright lustrous appearance with the surfaces therebetween having a shining pleasing grained or the like finish.

2. The method of applying a decorative pattern to surface portions of a metal plate without applying said pattern to raised portions forming a design in the surface of said plate, which com-.

prises, placing said plate in a masking frame,

registering the said raised design portions of said plate with corresponding masking portions of said frame and leaving unmasked the portions therebetween, applying to only said unmasked surfaces a ground coating of pigment, removing said plate from said mask frame, drying or otherwise fixing said ground coating, again'placing said plate in said mask frame or in a duplicate thereof, registering only said raised design portions of said plate with corresponding masking portions of said frame and leaving unmasked the portions therebetween, imprinting upon the sur- 35 face of a soft deformable roller a transferable design, passing said imprinted roller over last said mask frame with said plate therein as last. described under sufficient pressure to deform its surface around said masked portions and into contact with said unmasked coated surfaces thereby imprinting said transferable design upon said unmasked coated surfaces, removing said plate from said frame and drying or otherwise fixing the design imprinted thereon.

3. The method of producing a decorative plate having a design thereon of bright ungrai ned lustre-like spaced portions with grained or otherwise decorated surface portions therebetween, which comprises, embossing a decorative design in a metal plate, polishing only said embossed portions, placing said plate in a masking frame, registering the said embossed design portionsof said plate with corresponding masking portions of said frame and leaving unmasked the portions 55 therebetween, applying to only said unmasked surfaces a ground coating of pigment, removing said plate from said mask frame, drying or otherwise fixing said ground coating, again placing said plate in said mask frame or in a duplicate thereof, registering only said embossed design upon said unmasked coated surfaces, re-

moving said plate from said frame and drying or otherwise fixing the design imprinted thereon.

4. The method of applying a decorative pattern to surface portions of a metal plate without applying said pattern to raised portions forming a design in the surface of said plate, which comprises, placing said plate in a masking frame, registering'the said raised design portions of said plate with corresponding masking portions of said frame and leaving unmasked the portions therebetween, applying to only said unmasked surfaces a ground coating of pigment, removing said plate from said mask frame, drying or otherwise 'fixing said ground coating, again placing said plate in said mask frame or in a duplicate thereof, registering only said raised design portions of said plate with corresponding masking portions of said frame and leaving unmasked the portions therebetween, imprinting upon the surface of a soft deformable roller a transferable design, passing said imprinted roller over last said mask frame with said plate therein as last described under sufficient pressure to deform its surface around said masked portions and into contact with said unmasked coated surfaces thereby imprinting said transferable design upon said unmasked coated surfaces, removing said plate from said frame, drying or otherwise fixing the design imprinted thereon, spraying or otherwise coating the entire surface of the decorated side of the plate with a clear lacquer, and

' drying the lacquer thus applied.

panels having spaced raised design forming surfaces with grained, or like decorative, surfaces therebetween, which comprises, producing a facsimile of the article to be decorated, mounting said facsimile in an opening in a frame, forming strips within said opening and attached to said frame masking by electro-deposition of metal only, upon the said spaced raised design surfaces of said panel, removing said frame and said masking strips from said facsimile, placing in said frame a panel to be decorated, registering said masking strips with said raised design surfaces of said panel, coating the surfaces of said panel between said strips with a pigment, removing said panel from said frame, drying or otherwise fixing said coating, again replacing said panel in said frame or in a duplicate thereof, registering said raised design surfaces with said masking strips, imprinting upon the surface a of a deformable roller a transferable design,

frame and drying or otherwise fixing the design vimprinted thereon.

JOHN VISSER. 

